Sleep and Death
by HybridPlaything
Summary: Hypnos and Thanatos plague L2 as they have for years but now someone is taunting them by targeting their family. Deception knows who they are, can they figure out who it is before they lose everything? Or is it too late already?


**One**

Hypnos and Thanatos. Two names that had haunted the streets of L2 for the last twelve years. The names carved into the skin of their victims for all the world to know who had committed such a heinous act such as murder. L2 was home of two of the most well known serial killers in all of the colonies and Earth, two serial killers that hadn't been caught in over a decade from when they made their appearance twelve years ago. Back then the police force of L2 had clues and confidence they would catch the murderers but as the years went on the victims grew in numbers the evidence dwindled until it just seemed to vanish. No fingerprints, not that they had ever gotten a match with the prints they had first found. No hairs or foreign matter on the body other then contaminants from the drop point, which sadly wasn't much as the victim always seemed to be placed out with care in an open area to be found. Most recently though the victims seemed to have an identity where as in the past the victims seemed to just have popped into existence as a dead body. Not a happy thought for the police of L2 who had been trying for years in vain to figure out who Hypnos and Thanatos were. There was another body today.

She was a young salvage yard worker, short cropped hair in a navy blue color, small hands rough and calloused from working in the yard, slim waist showing on the left side where her coveralls were torn and bloodied and her feet were bare. The most odd thing about the scene was her bare feet and blood covered coveralls as she seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully, but her unusually pale and cold skin said otherwise. A coroner was checking over the body while an investigator took photographic evidence When the coroner was done the body was lifted onto a stretcher and taking to the morgue for an autopsy. Two men who called in the body stood near a squad car answering questions, the men knew the victim as it was; they told the officer that they had arranged to meet at the park under the oak to discuss the younger male getting a part time job at the girls yard. She did all the preliminary interviews for her uncle and screened likely candidates during a two week probation. Usually all of this was done in the salvage yard office but her uncle was holding an important conference with several other yard owners and being regular customers and family friends they had the meeting arranged out at the park for appearances sake only.

The officer nodded and thanked the young men before letting them go home to morn and the officer made his way to the salvage yard He hated to be the bearer of bad news but unfortunately it came with the job description. The young men who had just spoke with the officer left the park with a heavy air of despair. They had lost another member of their small family and they knew that the moment the girl was taken for her autopsy they would find the scars along her arms. All of L2 would know who had killed the girl, because the killers of L2 were nothing if not on time with their kills. It was the first Saturday of another month and Hypnos and Thantos added another mane to their lists of victims.

Solo and Duo entered their apartment with sad smiles. Hilde had been like a sister to the family and it was a shame to have to see her like that but she had been unhappy for so long that it was a sad relief to see a peaceful smile on her face as the drugs entered her system and lulled her to sleep. Solo instructed for Duo to go and rest while he made the calls, their family had to alerted to the passing of a member and within an hour most of the gang would show up at the small apartment to offer comfort and support. Duo nodded and headed to the only bedroom in the apartment and pulled off his long sleeve shirt before collapsing on the king size mattress on the floor. With his face buried ion the mattress and his four foot long braid trapped under his right arm his back was left bare for all the world to see. The sharp scars of _THANATOS _stretched across his shoulders and was embellished with vines of Ivy and sleeping fairies. It was a work of art as much as it was a declaration. This young man of only nineteen was a murder.

Solo entered not long after his roommate, "Little brother are you asleep?" he asked softly but all he got in reply was a muffled grunt. Solo shook his head and removed his shirt much as Duo had, but instead of throwing himself down he pulled his long honey hair up into a tail and then a loose bun before laying next to Duo. Much like his sibling Solo's back had a work of art etched into his skin, a far larger piece too. Across his shoulders in a mirror image of Duos back was _HYPNOS_ embellished with ivy, but there were no fairies on Solo's back. The ivy trailed low to wrap around a vigilant dragon that seemed to cling to Solo's back in a loving embrace. Solo, seven years Duo's senior, was another murder and both boys had been murders for almost thirteen years now. "Rest easy now Little One, soon our family will embrace us." Solo murmured to Duo as he pet his hair and Duo sighed as he let himself drift to sleep.

Duo dreamed of the past, of his first encounter with death and thought of taking another's life. He dreamed of an orphanage, a street gang, bell towers and thoughts of saving a family that was never his by blood.

"_S'lo! S'lo we needs you!" a six year old Duo cried out as the church bell rang out repeatedly. "S'lo R'ko needs help!" he cried as the eleven year old boy made it to the stair case where Duo was hollering. Sister Helen and Father Maxwell were not far behind so they were able to here Duo tell Solo what happened. "S'lo nee-chan said she was sooo sad cuz the big people brought her back. They said they didn't like R'ko so they gived her back and she says she gonna ring the bells. I like to hear the bells so I comes and then I sees nee-chan falling but she's stuck in the ropes of the bells! S'lo we has to help nee-chan down!_

He started off calm enough but by the end of his story Duo seemed to be panicking so Solo grabbed him and picked him up while the Sister and Father took care Reiko nee-chan. The Japanese girl was four years older then Solo but was more looked after by Solo and Duo before they ended up in the Maxwell Orphanage together. Duo had been found in the dumpster by a group of street kids and raised by them as well until he was four and most of them got picked up by cops during a gang fight. The kids that didn't get picked up scattered leaving a young Duo to fend for himself until he found Solo a week later; Solo was just dropped on the curb as his father speed off in a car. Nine years old and unaccustomed to the harsh streets Solo approached Duo who was rooting around in the trash nearby. Duo smiled and said "Hi, you hunry?" From there on Solo and Duo were inseparable and Solo learned all he could from Duo about learning how to find edible food in the trash and how to steal from the market. Six months later they came across Reiko who was sitting in the ashes of a burned down apartment building crying her eyes out. She was thirteen and Solo recruited her to teach Duo how to talk more since he was big enough for school but couldn't go and he would feed her and keep her safe. It was an agreement and just like that both Solo and Duo were learning Japanese, English and math. Solo didn't remember much of his schooling since his father rarely took him and Duo had never gone but Reiko had gone regularly and it was only an accident that she wasn't home during the fire and left with nothing.

A year later found the trio at the Maxwell Orphanage. Sister Helen had seen Solo and Duo stealing bread from the local bakery one day and she followed them to find them sharing their spoils with Reiko. Later that evening she and Father Maxwell rounded them up and gave them a place to sleep and a hot meal and about eight other kids to talk to. At first the trio was shy and stuck to themselves but eventually they made friends and on adoption days the three would insist they be adopted together or not at all, but eventually when a couple showed interest in Reiko Solo told her it was ok to go so long as she visited because she was their nee-chan. Reiko was nervous but gave it a shot and had been adopted about two days later. She stayed with the family for another year before they brought her back saying the couldn't handle her and it was easy to tell that Reiko took it hard. Solo knew she depressed and that the father that adopted her was doing something wrong but he didn't think that his nee-chan would ever leave him and Duo alone. After that Solo refused to be adopted without Duo and Duo followed Solo without question.

"_Duo Reiko nee-chan...Well she's not going to be with us no more. You understand?" Solo asked the little boy in his arms. Duo nodded, "She's like the puppy we see'd at the bridge, 'member? The puppy didn't wake up." Solo nodded surprised that Duo remembered the dead pup they had found hanging under the bridge the night the found Reiko. "Yeah she is." Solo said quietly._

"_S'lo is nee-chan gonna be in heaven now?" Duo asked thinking of the happy place that Sister Helen had spoke of to one of the older boys after his mother had died and he ended up with the rest of the orphans."I don't know Duo cuz Sister Helen says that what nee-chan did was wrong but nee-chan is Japanese and I don't think that it is wrong to them... It don't matter though cuz she's happy now and We, me an' you Little One, are gonna keep our family happy okay?" Solo asked as he thought of the other orphans who had gotten close to the boys in the time they had been in the Orphanage. "Okay, I help ya S'lo!" Duo replied happily._

He didn't know then that he and Solo would end up killers. Solo did everything he could to keep the orphans happy; Duo did his best as well but it was on the day they had decided for Duo's birthday that Solo found that he was going to have to kill. A kid named Sammy had just been returned to the orphanage after having gone through his fourth or fifth adoption. The kid didn't know what was wrong, he confided in Solo that he had been happy in the last three houses but the families always brought him back saying it didn't work out. He felt defective and that he had thought of ending it but he was scared to go to Hell for it; he begged for help and Solo agreed, but Duo wanted to help. Solo wasn't sure at first if he wanted to let Duo help but he had overheard the whole conversation and he reminded Solo that they would keep the family happy together. Solo ended up letting Duo help and they did the only thing that Solo could think of that would be painless for the boy. Solo and Duo went to the market and stole sleeping herbs from the apothecary, Solo told Duo that Sammy would just go to sleep and be happy. But when they got back to the Orphanage it was in flames and ruins. A gas pipe ruptured and exploded under the church and leveled it within minutes. Sammy was still alive crying out for Solo to make the pain stop. Solo put the leaves in Sammy's mouth and told him suck on them and he would feel better. It wasn't the best way Solo knew but it would help. Ten minutes later Sammy died in the arms of Solo and Duo.

Duo awoke with a star cover in a cold sweat and a choked whine in his throat and he instinctively latched on to Solo who was waiting for him to wake up. It was always like this after a killing. The boys would help one their family member's find release and one or the other would have nightmares; Duo more often then Solo but he knew it was for the best. Duo wouldn't let any of his family end up like Reiko nee-chan, they would all just go to sleep and be happy like Sammy nii-chan. But Duo often felt like a failure that he couldn't keep his family happy, and on the first Friday of every month if someone in the family was so sad they wanted to go to Heaven then they would tell Solo and Duo and then that night they would go just like they wanted. Their family was easy to find and identify because they all had Solo and Duo's nicknames carved onto their arms or were decorated with ivy or sometimes both. In public the family covers the scars but when they are all together or at night the scars are reveled and when Solo and Duo are around then everyone shows off the scars and is proud to wear them around. Thanatos and Hypnos have a somewhat large family even though they consider it small; thirty-eight including Solo and Duo and not including anyone under eighteen, about an extra twenty. New members proudly go under the blade to show their loyalty to the family, to prove to Solo and Duo that they want a new family, they want a chance at happiness, but only after they turn eighteen. Solo and Duo refuse to let anyone decide to take the knife until they are eighteen although some get ivy tattoos at sixteen to show their devotion.

But sadly, they couldn't make everyone happy. They had lost a total of one hundred and forty four family members in the twelve years since they promised to make their family happy. Anytime someone asked to be released the family mourns together for three days, this strengthens the family bond and helps those who remain to preserve and try harder to be happy or pushes those beyond saving a little closer to the edge. Solo always hopes that the latest one to go will be the last but it never is and he won't let his family burn so he preserves with Duo to save all that he can.

"Shh, it's okay Little One. They are happy now." he paused as a soft knock on the apartment door reached his ears, "Shh, I bet that's our family let me let them in so we can be together okay?" Solo asked and Duo nodded. He let Solo go and sure enough four girls in their mid thirties walked into the apartment and shed their sweaters to display their scars and gave Solo a hug before rushing in to comfort Duo. "There now Duo, see our sisters are here to help us get better." Solo soothed and Duo gave a small smile to the women who were now giving him hugs. Solo laid on the bed with the other four and they arranged themselves so that Duo and Solo were surrounded by hugs and soft soothing words. More of the family would show up later but for now the young men could rest knowing that they would waken to warmth and comfort of their beloved family.

A/N Okay so this was bugging me so much that it's 3am and I'm posting this up. I'm not sure if it'll progress further then this since I haven't actually planned on this but it was distracting me from _High Strung_ and _Whispers in the Dark_. Any who if ya wanna see more this then just lemme know and I'll work from that.


End file.
